Across the Far East and Siberia, where the voting began, the data was on average 5% higher than in 2012. As of 3pm Moscow time, other regions were reporting interim figures 50% above those recorded at the same time six years ago. Two hours later, turnout broke the 50% level.
Even in Moscow, where the electorate is traditionally reluctant, polling stations were unusually busy, with queues lining up in front of some of them.
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A girl casts her ballot at a Bakhchysarai voting station.
© Sputnik / Aleksei Malgavko
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A line in front of the Russian embassy in Bishkek.
© Sputnik / Svetlana Fedotova
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Presidential candidate and incumbent President Vladimir Putin after casting his vote at the Russian Academy of Sciences polling station.
© Sputnik / Sergey Guneev
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A video conference with the crew of MKS-54/55 space station. On screen: Roskosmos' cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov.
© Sputnik / Kirill Kallinikov
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Russian nuns prepare to cast their ballots at a polling station in Jerusalem.
© REUTERS / Ronen Zvulun
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A folk band performs in front of a polling station in Khabarovsk.
© Sputnik / Igor Onuchin
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Voters at the Kazansky railway terminal polling station in Moscow.
© Sputnik / Anton Denisov
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Presidential candidate Pavel Grudinin casts his vote.
© Sputnik / Ramil Sitdikov
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Russian Election Committee information center.
© Sputnik / Kirill Kallinikov
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Presidential candidate Maxim Suraykin casts his vote.
© Sputnik / Vladimir Astapkovich
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Members of a "walrus" club ahead of voting in Barnaul.
© Sputnik / Andrey Lukovskiy
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Presidential candidate Grigory Yavlinsky casts his vote.
© Sputnik / Ekaterina Chesnokova
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Ukranian police block the entrance to the Russian consulate in Odessa.
© Sputnik / Stringer
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Presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak casts her vote.
© Sputnik / Maksim Blinov
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A girl during voting at No.90 polling station in Moscow.
© Sputnik / Evgeniy Biyatov
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A volunteer in front of a polling station in Moscow.
© Sputnik / Ekaterina Chesnokova
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Presidential candidate Vladimir Zhirinovsky casts his vote.
© Sputnik / Ilya Pitalev
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Ukranian police and nationalists block the Russian embassy building in Kiev.
© Sputnik / Stringer
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Inside the Russian Central Election Commission information center.
© Sputnik / Kirill Kallinikov
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Presidential candidate Sergey Baburin casts his vote.
© Sputnik / Evgeniy Odinokov
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Presidential candidate Boris Titov casts his vote.
© Sputnik / Nikolay Khizhnyak
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A girl holds up a promotional t-shirt at a polling station in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
© Sputnik / Aleksander Piragis
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Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev casts his vote.
© Sputnik / Dmitriy Astakhov
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Girls in traditional dress at a polling station in Kazan.
© Sputnik / Maksim Bogodvid
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A police cadet casts her vote at a polling station in Moscow.
© AP Photo / Pavel Golovkin
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Central Election Commission members count votes at a polling station in Vladivostok.
© Sputnik / Vitaliy Ankov
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A child plays with a balloon near voting booths inside the Kazansky railway terminal.
© REUTERS / Gleb Garanich